Short takes, outtakes, our takes and other stuff you should know about public information, government accountability and ethical leadership in Hawaii.

The absence of former finance director Scott Teruya, which has never been explained, was felt during the county’s about-to-conclude critical budget deliberations.

The very openness of the U.S. makes it vulnerable to meddling from hostile nations.

Children’s Defense Fund program director Graciela Camarena assists Lucia Salazar with filling out Medicaid and SNAP application forms for her family in Pharr, Texas, in November 2023. States with the…

More than half of states, all with Republican attorneys general, have sued to block a recent U.S. Department of Education final rule seeking to protect LGBTQ+ students from discrimination. (Photo:…

Photo: Getty Images Despite strong opposition, the North Carolina Senate voted this month to boost enrollment in privately run K-12 schools by doubling state funding for tuition subsidies called “opportunity…

Drug Enforcement Agency employees wear hazmat suits at a home raid in Aurora due to mass amounts of fentanyl powder and residue in the residence. (Courtesy of the DEA Rocky…

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-MT), GOP candidate David McCormick and former U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) visited Geno’s in Philadelphia April 3, 2024 (Capital-Star photo by John Cole) Last week…

Getty Images The University of Louisiana at Lafayette is owed more than $30,000 from a now-defunct Arena Football League team that was supposed to use its on-campus facility. The Lafayette…

It’s been one year since the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, Opill, and less than two months since it hit store shelves. Advocates…